Joe Bahlke: Shifting values

Once upon a time, in the not too distant past, million dollars in private hands was considered real wealth, and viewed with awe, if not envy, while in the public domain it represented a hefty amount of taxes the government had exacted and was poised to spend. Somewhere along the line over the past couple of decade or so, the public's perception of million was substantially reduced by allowing billion dollars (a thousand times a million) to take center stage in the public forum, overall assessment, reporting and discussion.

You may have noticed that lately the focus has shifted once again, this time the denomination has advanced to trillion dollars (a thousand times a billion). For instance 1 trillion per annum on military related expenses, our 1 trillion debt to China, a deficit of 17 trillion, trillions traded on Wall Street, trillions of unfunded future liabilities, etc.

In light of such astronomical figures, is it any wonder the thoroughly desensitized public tends to reduce the Pentagon's decision to destroy 7 billion worth of military hardware in Afghanistan to a mere pittance? I was nevertheless surprised to learn.

Time to climb down from these lofty celestial mathematical heights and plant our feet firmly on the ground, where they have always belonged.

Let's assume an altruistic multi-billionaire Santa Claus decides to present our citizens with a $7 billion check, that would mean all 14,000 of us, every man, woman and child in our fair city would receive the tidy sum of $500,000, or a family of four $2 million. Now doesn't that pittance begin to look a lot more substantial and to take on a decidedly different meaning when applied in practical terms and closer to home?

All this is happening in an era when millions of our fellow citizens are compensated at a paltry $7.35 federal minimum wage per hour, part time without benefits, often working 2-3 jobs yet still unable to make ends meet.

The drums of war are sounding once again. Time to get engaged in the Syrian civil war and another opportunity for us to pump a few more billions down the proverbial rat hole.